O Sole Mia [...Ms. Bell]

[Clement Evans]

((ooc: This starts at a local park but will end up downtown, so.))

((Backdated to before the school camping trip))

True to her word, Mia did seek Clement out for 'hanging together', something he still couldn't quite understand but enjoyed nonetheless. When he admitted he didn't really like watching things on screens (without telling her precisely why), she'd cheerfully said that it was alright, they could do other things.

Like go to the park. The parks around where the Lees lived in L.A. had had worn monkey-bar sets and a few swings, and the usual areas of blacktop with netless basketball hoops that sometimes leaned a little to one side or weren't otherwise completely plumb. By the time they were old enough that Ajima let them go to the park unsupervised they left the equipment alone. Besides, swings had always made Minho feel sick and Clement hadn't known what to do with them anyway, and there was only so much you could do on monkey-bars.

But in Pilot Ridge the park was filled with stuff Clement didn't even have names for, and it was all... colorful. Like a kids' birthday party threw up on it. There were slides that were tunnels and spirally things and tires hanging from chains and rings hanging from a bar and stuff made out of rope. And... swings and monkey-bars. Clement had no idea where to even start, so he followed Mia's lead and just did whatever she did.

She chose the swings, but Clement had no idea how to make it go and sat in his, watching. They were close enough that he could finally see something he thought he'd seen but couldn't confirm. "Does your hat... have ears on it?"

[Mia Bell]

Seeking Clement out had been a bit trickier than she thought it would be. But she did it, and now she was happy that they were able to hang out, and that Clement wanted to hang out with her. Them doing random things was really find to Mia, she liked dong almost anything, as long as it didn’t involve large bodies of water, and her wearing a bathing suit, and/or shorts. Hopefully one of these days they could go bowling, or mini gulfing, or something of that variety.


The only parks where Mia lived were national parks, and the playground was really small, and hardly ever used. The only reason she knew anything about a regular park was from her trips to Ireland to visit her father’s family. There weren’t basketball courts outside of her school either. Granted you couldn’t play basketball on snow or dirt. However, there were other activities one could do in Alaska that others rarely could.

Clement was right, the playground did look like a birthday party threw up on it. For a second it made her wonder if her head looked like pepdobismal threw up on her hair. Mia made her way over to the swings and saw down on one, smiling at Clement as he sat down on the other. She slowly started to pump her legs, only barely moving because she still wanted to talk to Clement. She giggled, “yes it does, a friend made it for me.” She wanted to say her boyfriend’s sister made it for her, but that was long, and she really wasn’t sure if River was even her boyfriend. They were ‘just dating’ after all, right? “Do you like it?” She wasn’t going to be an idiot and say he could have it, but would suggest maybe going out and looking one for him in a store or something.

[Clement Evans]

Unsurprisingly, Clement was also fine with not doing things that required a swimsuit or shorts, since he didn't own either one. He'd sort of liked the lake at the retreat, but not enough to try the one near the school. As for bowling or mini-golf... well, he'd never done either one but would be willing to try. ...Once someone explained exactly what they were.

He tried doing a little of what she was doing, but it looked basically like she was making her legs straight and then bending them, and when Clement tried that nothing happened. There was probably more to it than that, but whatever it was, he didn't get it.

What she said made him blink. "Someone made that?"

Not that he doubted her, but it looked really good, like something in a store. "Is it... cat ears?"

Did he like it? Well... not on him, but on Mia it was fun. But how did he say that? "Um." Oh. "Not to wear, but to look at." Clement tried making the swing go again, failed, and just stopped trying. It was another one of those skills he figured had passed him by, like riding a bike. "I guess people need hats like that here, don't they?"

Meaning winter hats. In Cali... not so much.

And, "When did you learn how to make a swing go?"

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded to Clement, “yeah It’s cool right? You should get one!” She wondered if they could find something like it in one of the town stores. Maybe the mall? If not she would go onto Rain’s Etsy and order one for the boy, then he could pay her back, if he wanted to. Though, she was sure they could find one in the mall somewhere. She nodded “Yeah it’s cat ears. I think you would look cute with one.” She took her hat off, and held it out for Clement, “Try it on!?”

Then she felt bad, since he said it didn’t look cute to wear. Opps, sorry Clement. “Maybe not cat ears, but something else? People make many different animals for hats.” That didn’t sound quite right, but she didn’t know how to really explain it. “Like there’s panda ears, fox, bunny, and a bunch of other stuff.” Mia shrugged, “For the winter I guess. But I’m used to the cold, so I never really had to wear hats.”

She smiled warmly at the boy at his next question. “When I was sixteen. I don’t have a swing set where I am from. So, I didn’t learn how till I got to Hammel, a friend showed me how to do it.” She looked at Clement. “Would you like me to teach you?”

[Clement Evans]

Clement gave her his version of amused, a neutral expression with both eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I should get a winter hat."

That part he agreed with. He even thought the hat was sort of amusing, but not something he could get away with wearing. People would give him crap about it. But since it was just Mia, he took the hat from her and tried it on. It was pretty nice. Very soft. Warm. An eyebrow rose. "This can't look good."

Shaking his head, he took the hat off carefully and handed it back. On the Korean variety shows Minho had made him watch, he knew about animal costumes and hats, but none of them had been quite like Mia's. He liked hers better. The idea of a rabbit hat made him think of Ty, and the side of his mouth quirked in what wasn't quite a half-smile but maybe... a fifth of one. But the mention of winter made him shudder. "I've never seen snow. I don't want to see snow. I don't want to see winter."

It was hard to imagine, from a California boy's perspective. He'd seen it in pictures but... ice and snow? It could stay in pictures too. Clement was not looking forward to it.

Sixteen? Really? Clement didn't feel as bad then. "They have them in the parks where I'm from, but... me and Minho left them for the little kids." He nodded. "Yeah, will you?"

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded, he should, “Aww. I think it looks great on you.” That wasn’t even a lie, he did look adorable in it. “But yeah, something else though, or maybe just a beanie. We will have to go shopping!” She could understand the fact that he didn’t want to wear something like it because it would get made fun of or something, she actually didn’t care, but that was her, she had so much more self-confidence than Clement had, and she could understand that.

She took the hat back with a smile, and put it back on. “I wasn’t born when it had been snowing, but I was born in winter. Where I come from there’s only one season, and it’s winter. So it never got above like 76 degrees even in the summer.” She loved the cold, she was born and raised in it, she had to love it. Which actually made her hate spring, summer, and half of fall here in Vermont, but she was getting used to it. “If you bundle yourself up, playing in the snow is a lot of fun. I can’t wait to make snowmen, and snow angels, snow forts, and have snowball fights.” She smiled at Clement, “But I can understand someone who likes heat not liking winter. We can totally stay indoors and drink lots of tea!”

“Ah, I find swinging really relaxing. I don’t know why.” She smiled at Clement, and hopped of the swing, and walked behind Clement. “Okay I’m going to push you, to give you a good start, and keep pushing you till you get the leg work down. Now what you want to do is move your legs like you had been doing before. The thing is you need to time it, when you’re going forward you want to put your legs out, and when you’re going backward you have to bring your legs in. Understand?”

[Clement Evans]

Well, girls could do the cute thing well into college and not be looked at weird. Guys couldn't, not without things being inferred, the least of which was that they weren't 'respectable' or 'strong'. Clement didn't care about that aspect, but he cared about people picking on him. He got in trouble for fighting enough already. Not as much as in California, but enough that he had detention at least once a week.

"Shopping might be cool," he said. He'd never been shopping with a girl before (save Ajima, but this was different), thought Mia might know some fun places. And, well, he'd never really been shopping either. Not for pleasure, browsing, the way kids went to the mall.

He shuddered at the mention of the weather. Mid-70s was fall. Not bad, but those temps soon segued into ones low enough that a kid in just a t-shirt and jeans was pretty miserable. Snorting a little, he gave Mia another sort of fifth-smile. "I'm gonna be here for the next six years. If you know how to do snow, I should learn from you."

Listening to Mia instruct him on how to swing, he digested that info while looking behind at her. "Got it."

She gave him a push, and he tried to do what she said. At first he got the motions wrong, legs doing the opposite things, but after a few misfires he got it. It was a rush for a kid who'd never done it, his stomach falling every time he went backward. Soon he was swinging pretty high and when he looked down he abruptly stopped pumping. Yup. That was high enough. As he surged forward and swooshed back... yeah, it was relaxing.

Congrats, Mia, you get another smile. Clement closed his eyes as he swung, grinning. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Eventually he came to a stop, hair blown all over, face relaxed back into his usual neutral expression. Looking toward the big playset, he quirked an eyebrow. "So how do you do the rest of that stuff? I'll follow you."

[Mia Bell]

“Shopping is fun, even more fun when you’re with friends.” Was she his friend? He was her friend, but did Clement see her as a friend? She hoped he did, selfish thought, but she would be honored to be his friend. “Do.. You have money?” That was such a strange thing to ask, but the last night she bought him a bunch of things it became awkward, and didn’t want to relive that.

She looked at Clement and smiled, “I am like the best teacher you could have.” She grew up in the snow; snow was her life for more than half the year. She spent more time in the snow than most people. “So, it’s a promise. I will teach you all there is to know about snow.” Not that there was much to know about it, or learn, but she needed to make it sound fun! “First thing though. Don’t eat or touch yellow snow… If it’s any other color other than white, or brownish, just don’t touch it..”



Mia smiled, it made her happy to see him happy. Being on a swing for the first time was a rush, just like a roller costar (though that was worse). “Do you feel alright? Do you like swinging?” It was even more relaxing when listening to music, she was able to swing for like an hour when listening to music, being able to forget about the world.


“okay! Lets do the slide then, that’s the easiest.” She went over to one of the bigger slides, and sat down at the base of the yellow slide. “All you do is push and let gravity do it’s thing!” She pushed off and slide her way to the bottom. She stood up, and turned around to watch Clement go down. She pulled out her phone to take a picture when he did.

[Clement Evans]

"Yeah. Lots of stuff is better with friends." Mia most definitely was Clement's friend, even if she was a girl and a lot older. She was sort of like having a big sister, except more awesome. A lot of the kids who had older siblings here complained about them, but Clement didn't have anything bad to say about Mia.

"If I get a winter hat I can use my stipend," he said. "And I can use it for other things too." The stipend wasn't too much, but if he saw something necessary he'd feel okay getting it. Clement was worried about saving, but he knew the stipend wasn't much and he still didn't have a winter coat. "Looking is fun too."

He wasn't used to buying anything anyway, but he did need a hat. If he found a cool one while with Mia, there was no reason not to buy it.

Nodding, he half-smiled. "You can be my snow teacher then. What's bad about yellow snow."

Now that it was winding down and not so high, Clement liked it better. Sure, high was sort of fun, but for someone swinging for the first time it was a little panicky too. "Swinging's pretty awesome," he said. "There should be playgrounds for older kids and adults too."

Maybe they wouldn't be so tense then, right?

Swinging done, Clement followed Mia to the playset and climbed up. The slide wasn't anything special for its type, but from where he stood it suddenly looked... higher up. Even as he watched Mia demonstrate he wasn't all that sure, but she was just fine and waiting for him. It couldn't be too bad. Sitting, trying not to look as uncertain as he felt, Clement pushed off.

Whoa.

Without being told or able to see how Mia had stopped at the bottom, the photo she ended up taking was of Clement two seconds before he landed at the foot of the slide on his bony rear end, feet out in front of him. Momentum had him slide six inches into the grass. He sat there, blinking, and then stood up, rubbing his butt.

"What'd I do wrong?"

...Maybe they should do something else.

((ooc: shopping?))

[Mia Bell]

“stipend?” She felt like she should know that word. Maybe she was having a brainfart, because she couldn’t remember what it was. Mia would give him her brother’s winter coat to borrow for the winter. But that was in Alaska, she wondered if she could get her mother to send it to her. Though she really wasn’t sure if she could handle seeing the coat again. It would probably be too big for Clement anyways. She nodded and smiled, “yes, window shopping is fun.” Though it could also be depressing.

“Hmm… Yellow snow means someone peed in the snow.” Which guys were prone to do, and she was certain more than a few guys at Hammel would do it, just for the laughs.

Mia nodded, “yes there should be! I would be all the time.” She loved the park, especially at night when she can be alone without any kids around. Though Clement’s reasoning was a very cute one. Maybe Adults wouldn’t actually be tense, he had a good point.

Mia cringed when Clement hit the ground, opps! She forgot to tell him something… it had slipped her mind.. She felt awful. She ran over to Clement, “are you okay?” She looked at her phone, she got a pretty good picture of him though. “You didn’t put your feet down at the end of the slide to stop yourself. Sorry it slipped my mind. Are you alright?”

She helped him up off the ground. “I think that’s enough of playground teaching. Why don’t we go in town, and do that window shopping?”

[Clement Evans]

"The money the government gives to kids without any parents to buy necessities," he said. "Usually clothes, but I can get like, toothpaste and stuff with it too."

It was a word he'd learned recently, 'necessities', in conjunction with the stipend, no less. Clement wasn't really one to get depressed (it just turned to anger before it could be depression) but he understood the mindset that window shopping could be so. It tended to remind him of all the things he couldn't get, things other kids had he didn't. Not that he necessarily wanted those things, but it was all part of the whole mindset that made them think they were better than he was. Still, it was kind of fun too, just getting out and being somewhere different. And with Mia? Bonus.

Okay, that was another mystery solved. Clement had heard jokes over the years about 'yellow snow' but had never understood them. Now? Ew. "Why would anyone want to pee in snow? It's freezing out."

Well... dogs, he supposed, but still.

Dusting off his jeans, he stood, taking her hand. "I'm okay. Don't worry about it."

He wondered why his armor hadn't popped, but guessed he'd been taken too much by surprise. It was better it didn't, anyway. It hurt like hell. Anyway, even if Mia'd told him what to do, he didn't think he'd have done it. It happened too fast. Clement supposed it was one of those things you just learned, since slides were for kids and all and if they got hurt all the time they'd be taken out.

Window shopping sounded good. "Okay."

Following Mia, Clement looked around a lot as they walked, though he wasn't able to see all that much in detail. Still nice to be outside.

They got to the shops, and Clement said, "Where do you like to go? Oh, and don't you work somewhere around here?"

[Mia Bell]

“Ohhh I get it!” She found it sad that he was an orphan, and didn’t actually have parents to love him. That made her figure that she needed to just love him even more. “That’s good. At least you get something.”

Depression was just a fancy word for ‘sad’ most of the time. She had all the same feelings Clement had, just for different things. For him it was objects, and maybe the fact that he wished he had a family. For her she wanted to look like others, she wanted to feel what others felt, the happiness she saw in them, the romances they were able to have. So many things that she wished her could have… She knew the feelings well. Going window shopping with Clement should prove to be a fun time. “Ah! That’s one of the mysteries about your gender that I would never get… They will usually do so to make words or something..”


“Lets go to the thrift shop. See if we can’t find anything good there. They usually had some cute stuff. And If they don’t then I have a friend who could make it look really nice.” Rain had an act for making really nice things out of really ugly things. “I work at the restaurant called Honest Abe’s. It’s really cool, and has some really good Vegan food.”

[Clement Evans]

Well, it was sort of questionable whether his dad had loved him or not, but Clement was going with 'had' rather than 'not' just for his own peace of mind. "Yeah," he agreed. "I'm thankful for it. I'm looking for a job, but I'm gonna have to save all that as much as I can."

He snorted. "I would never pee in snow. Sounds dumb. And cold."

But he had to admit, it sounded like something the guys in his dorm would do. Why anyone would want to take their pants down in a Vermont winter though... no idea.

"Sure," he said. Thrift shop? Cool. "The same friend who made your hat?"

Despite being from California, Clement didn't really know what 'vegan' entailed other than it was another one of those alternative eating things that had lots of vegetables in it. He didn't know why, but Mia seemed like the type to eat healthy, even if she also had good taste in cream soda and hot dogs.

The pair walked easily downtown, and had a good time looking through all the shops. Clement bought himself a winter hat, and just enjoyed spending time with Mia. She was cool. Having friends was cool. And he was sure she felt the same way.

[END]